So after all the teams burned up their good rubber on yesterday’s Qualifying today catches everybody on the wrong foot with car setups and tire management.
It will be dry.
This is good news for the pole sitters actually since their setups have already proven successful and the only hope for the back markers is that their fewer laps will be able to keep them on track enough longer to offset their demonstrated speed disadvantage. We’ll be seeing the same Mediums (Prime) and Softs (Option) that we’ve seen most of the season.
The commentators are convinced that Red Bull has been hamstrung by the decision outlawing their engine torque mapping system, but I look at the results of Qualifying and I’m not persuaded yet. Sure Webber is out in Q2, but Vettel puts the same car in 3rd. Rosberg and Schumacher are mild disappointments for Mercedes fans, but the team has had good and bad weeks all season.
Why the big deal about Qualifying? The Hungaroring has a reputation for driving like Monaco. What people mean by this is that despite being a lot faster on lap times, it’s a horrible place to pass and cars tend to end up in the same grid they started unless they blow up or park in a wall.
Summarizing the season at the August break my impressions are that Alonso has an unassailable lead in the drivers’ standings because his rivals are inconsistent in their results in addition to his being an improved driver in an improved car (for proof look at Massa).
Red Bull would be in trouble except for the reliability issue. Until their opponents can consistently put 2 drivers in the points no one can catch them. McLaren engineering is quite good, but their race management sucks. Ferrari deserves praise for producing a better car, or at least one Alonso is comfortable in.
The main points if interest will be whether any teams from mid-pack will be able to really effect a race or not and which ones will they be. Renault and Mercedes are candidates, but there won’t be any improvements.
They’re on vacation damnit.
- Formula One Official Site
- Hungaroring
- Hungarian Grand Prix
- Guardian Interactive Circuit Guide
- Speed Racecast
- F1 2012: Hungaroring Qualifying
Pretty tables below.
Starting Grid
| Grid | Driver | Team | Q-Time | Q-Laps |
| 1 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | 01:20.953 | 18 |
| 2 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus-Renault | 01:21.366 | 26 |
| 3 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull Racing-Renault | 01:21.416 | 18 |
| 4 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 01:21.583 | 22 |
| 5 | Kimi Raikkonen | Lotus-Renault | 01:21.730 | 22 |
| 6 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 01:21.844 | 19 |
| 7 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 01:21.900 | 19 |
| 8 | Pastor Maldonado | Williams-Renault | 01:21.939 | 22 |
| 9 | Bruno Senna | Williams-Renault | 01:22.343 | 24 |
| 10 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India-Mercedes | 01:22.847 | 19 |
| 11 | Mark Webber | Red Bull Racing-Renault | 01:21.715 | 17 |
| 12 | Paul di Resta | Force India-Mercedes | 01:21.813 | 15 |
| 13 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 01:21.895 | 16 |
| 14 | Sergio Perez | Sauber-Ferrari | 01:21.895 | 17 |
| 15 | Kamui Kobayashi | Sauber-Ferrari | 01:22.300 | 17 |
| 16 | Jean-Eric Vergne | STR-Ferrari | 01:22.380 | 10 |
| 17 | Michael Schumacher | Mercedes | 01:22.723 | 17 |
| 18 | Daniel Ricciardo | STR-Ferrari | 01:23.250 | 8 |
| 19 | Heikki Kovalainen | Caterham-Renault | 01:23.576 | 8 |
| 20 | Vitaly Petrov | Caterham-Renault | 01:24.167 | 7 |
| 21 | Charles Pic | Marussia-Cosworth | 01:25.244 | 9 |
| 22 | Timo Glock | Marussia-Cosworth | 01:25.476 | 10 |
| 23 | Pedro de la Rosa | HRT-Cosworth | 01:25.916 | 9 |
| 24 | Narain Karthikeyan | HRT-Cosworth | 01:26.178 | 11 |
Driver Standings
| Rank | Driver | Team | Points |
| 1 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 154 |
| 2 | Mark Webber | Red Bull Racing-Renault | 120 |
| 3 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull Racing-Renault | 110 |
| 4 | Kimi Raikkonen | Lotus-Renault | 98 |
| 5 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | 92 |
| 6 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 76 |
| 7 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 68 |
| 8 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus-Renault | 61 |
| 9 | Sergio Perez | Sauber-Ferrari | 47 |
| 10 | Kamui Kobayashi | Sauber-Ferrari | 33 |
| 11 | Pastor Maldonado | Williams-Renault | 29 |
| 12 | Michael Schumacher | Mercedes | 29 |
| 13 | Paul di Resta | Force India-Mercedes | 27 |
| 14 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 23 |
| 15 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India-Mercedes | 19 |
| 16 | Bruno Senna | Williams-Renault | 18 |
| 17 | Jean-Eric Vergne | STR-Ferrari | 4 |
Constructor Standings
| Rank | Team | Points |
| 1 | Red Bull | 230 |
| 2 | Ferrari | 177 |
| 3 | McLaren | 160 |
| 4 | Lotus | 159 |
| 5 | Mercedes | 105 |
| 6 | Sauber | 80 |
| 7 | Williams | 47 |
| 8 | Force India | 46 |
| 9 | Toro Rosso | 6 |
52 comments
Skip to comment form
Author
Author
Author
Weather
Tires
Hamilton
Author
Another formation lap.
Author
Will start from the pit.
Author
Author
Author
Author
Hamilton
Grosjean
Button
Vettel
Alonso
Raikkonen
Webber
Senna
Massa
Hulkenberg
Author
Author
Lap 3
Author
Hamilton
Grosjean
Button
Vettel
Alonso
Raikkonen
Webber
Senna
Massa
Hulkenberg
Author
Schumacher running slow laps.
Kobayashi pits for tires.
Author
69?
Author
Author
Hamilton
Grossjean
Button
Vettel
Alonso
Raikkonen
Webber
Senna
Massa
Rosberg
Author
Author
Author
Author
Hamilton
Grosjean
Button
Vettel
Raikkonen
Alonso
Webber
Senna
Massa
Rosberg
Author
but his used Softs are wearing off fast.
Author
Hamilton
Grosjean
Button
Vettel
Raikkonen
Alonso
Webber
Senna
Massa
Rosberg
Author
Conventional wisdom is go deep and since the positions are quite tight, it’s a game of chicken.
Author
Good stop.
Author
Hamilton
Grosjean
Vettel
Raikkonen
Alonso
Webber
Senna
Button
Massa
Rosberg
Author
They have to pit soon and Grosjean’s tires are not wearing out fast enough.
Author
Vettel too.
Author
Author
That’s why I’m waiting for a position update.
Author
Raikkonen
Hamilton
Alonso
Grosjean
Vettel
Senna
Button
Massa
Webber
Rosberg
Author
Author
Author
Bad stop
Author
Author
Author
Hamilton
Raikkonen
Grosjean
Vettel
Webber
Alonso
Button
Senna
Massa
Rosberg
Author
Author
Everyone on Mediums.
Author
Hamilton
Raikkonen
Grosjean
Vettel
Alonso
Button
Senna
Webber
Massa
Rosberg
Author
Author
Author
Author
Hamilton
Raikkonen
Grosjean
Vettel
Alonso
Button
Senna
Webber
Massa
Rosberg
Author
Author
Hamilton
Riakkonen
Grosjean
Vettel
Alonso
Button
Senna
Webber
Massa
Rosberg
Author
Author
No changes.
Author
Hamilton
Raikkonen
Grosjean
Vettel
Alonso
Button
Senna
Webber
Massa
Rosberg
Author
McLaren says it has some aero tricks for the faster tracks in the last half of the season.